How A Brand Can Build Human Connections [Video]

Sometimes the services that a company provides can go well beyond their initial purpose. Speaking at PSFK CONFERENCE SAN FRANCISCO, Joe Gebbia of Airbnb related some of the ways in which their room-sharing and rental service has touched peoples lives in a profound way. He leads off with a story of someone using their service who was a former border guard in West Germany during the cold war. While taking a trip in Germany he booked a room through Airbnb and ended up staying with a host who not only had the same job on the East German side of the wall, but also was stationed at the exact same location at the same time. What started as a simple room rental turned in to an emotional reconciliation.

In light of the recent devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy in the Northeastern US, Gebbia also discussed the ways in which Airbnb has served as a hub for humanitarian effort assisting those who has been affected. For example many hosts have been donating rooms to victims who have lost their homes, and Airbnb has waived its fees on over 20,000 rooms across the Northeast. These examples serve to prove how a simple service can go a long way in connecting people.